SOCIAL MEDIA AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH: A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE

Social media has become part of everyday life for most adolescents. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Telegram help young people communicate, share information, and build friendships, yet heavy use has been linked to poorer sleep, cyberbullying, and lower mental well-being. This article reviews five peer-reviewed publications (2017–2020) to examine both the benefits and the risks of social media for adolescents’ mental health. Large-scale evidence suggests that the overall association between digital technology use and well-being is negative but small, explaining at most 0.4% of its variation. At the same time, cohort studies from the United Kingdom show that very frequent or heavy use is associated with greater psychological distress and depressive symptoms, particularly among girls, and that much of this link operates through cyberbullying, insufficient sleep, and reduced physical activity. Social media also offers benefits, including peer interaction and opportunities for identity development. The review concludes that the effects of social media depend on how much, how, and by whom it is used, and that because the available evidence is largely correlational, it cannot establish cause and effect.